Endless tread



March 2, 1954 c. l. I EVEKEv ENDLESS TREAD 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed OCT.. 20, 1951 March 2, 1954 c. 1. LEVEKE 2,670,996

ENDLESS TREAD Filed Oct. 20, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 2, 1954 'UNT-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE ENDLESS TREA'D Ghester.` LLeveke, Des .Moines, Iowa.

Application`0ctober20, 1951; SerialNo. 215723572 (Cl. S05-10)= 3,Claims.

'My invention -is` al new form of detachablev endless` tread: for" temporarily converting resiliently tired vehicles into -thecrawling or endless ti'eadfty-pe: 'Speci'cally'my new endless'treadis` characterized in` part by anew pad structure'that` is' exceptionally strong,l tough, light and economical. It is` further characterized by a` novel tighteningA and securing "means"l that makes the device easy# to -assemblefon the tractor or the likeandequally` easy to'=rernove when-it is desiredto'have ai regula-r rubber 'tiredfvehicle again.

Thereare-manyy small 1enterprises that canwell use'lbloth theprawl'ingaendless tread type of draft vehicle and'a-lso--a rubber-pnuematic tired type; 'I'liersmall A contractor, the'rsma'll orchard man, andi alnost=-everyf farmer vhasoccason to need eachfioffthesetwoltypes of Itdraft-prime movers at. On' theother liand; the value oi" schief-time, y having -these-two-type'=of` tractors vmay not be greatlenough` `tir-warrant purchasing separatel units? The farmer" may.t have ae particularly dampspring when' it isimportant for him to havetl-ieerawling type tractor-forplowing or-'cul'- tit-ating:v Suchweath'er does not occurregularly,`

ofi'courseandone -oritwo occurrencesewould'not.- warranttlie payment of thousands ofi-dollarsV Much of' thetiine al rubber tiredvehiele'is as valuable in the `iields'and Epreferableson the highway. When for =a= separate-'endless--tread i tractor.

theweather is `adverset'o using normal farm draft vehicles; however; the failure to havefan endless` treaditypewehicle can befverycostlyfinthat the er'opsnfray-l get fplanted' latam-valuable moisture lostLIV for failuref to1 cultivate. An endless tread meansatliat canlbe--securedfto the wheels of a resilientlyftiredf draft# vehicle; therefore, could'- provi'de the' farmer withl` adeauatedraftJ equipmentfnornatter-'whattheweather and vatl'alcom-Y pa'rativelylow-lacost.' The ol-ly-equipment-neces-- saryf-in addition toA a rubber tired `vehicle would `1 befmyfdetachable' tread imeans;

'Seme detachable' treads of the ftype to which I/ referhave heenmade'that use af-cast'tread padb' Suchi units are. very satisfactory, but 1 have .cer-- tain drawbacksfaswell. Forron'e thing; castpa'dsare cumbersome andi unless1 made from somelight .'.metal arei very heavy; Mostofi 'the' light f metals-areay rather .softalsop which; means.- that pads-'i cast from' 'themi tend. to: wear' relatively rapidly. The .light met-ais `are'also'relatively ex.-g of Ecourse;rwlfi'ich4 gives. thern-an* addedI undesirable:--characterstim .commercially yspeak-.- ings'. .Mostfcastingsil aref alsa; relatively brittle: ailthoughxazcastisteelisinawuavailableewhicli hasf castings are stillfexpensive,l however; and-would.:

causetrtreadsf'madeiwith castv steel pads'to'he rathercostly.

Of the endless treads'known tome that are provided" with meansfor tightening thetreads after'they are assembled on the wheelsiof' the:-

vehicle; all'provide"` a tightening means that in-l creasesrthetension onvb'oth sides ofi one tread simultaneously. This fact requires' considerablyI more' leverageithan would `he necessaryA totight'en one side-atiawtinfieH Also; ofcourse; any unbalance.V or unequal pull on'the.tightening'mechanism will. cause -one'side-of 'the treadto lhe' drawn'up more thanthe other. If one-side' is-tightened more thanthe other, thev treadpwill be warped or' crooked and will not track well. The result will bea-either lanY unnecessarily rapid. and unequal wearingofthe tires overI which' ity isfmounted .=or a-.tendency-'for the treadto-walk up theside of the tire. Independent mean-Safor tightening` the:- two'- sides" off. oneV tread eliminatesA this dculty.

Most crawling type tractors also are provided. with lar-gef deep i lugs-I extending across thel face of the pad. transversely of the -lengthofthe tread Theselugs are extremely damagingto hard surfaced roads. It-isvery diilicult, if not im-I possible, to protect roadways'v from these-flugs; which -means :that the fusual endless tread l isf not:

-. useable on or adaptable :for use-onhardfsurfacedr roads;` They must betransported Iabout from place to placefon truck-s or'tralers,` therefore; that roll on rubber tires; My new tread is capable Ofi' being adapted' .for use-*onhardsurfaced'roads;

Anothers'comrnont failingvr of endless tread' ve'- hicles istheir'tendency toA slip sideways on slop ingg soft or wet earth and on low friction ma The reason why In. viewr of...the. foregoing, itis the principalx obj ect-otmy invention *to prov-ide .an endless tread havingrtough. light .inexpensive:treads-vthat-can heA rapidly fabricated;- y

Ittisfa further. object-lof. my inyentiontmpr vide f an endless. tread that is quickly andeasily thischaracteristicrtc degree, -Suchr 56' mountedon1 andaremoved.fromfa resiliently'tiredvehicle to convert it from a wheeled vehicle to a crawling type or vice versa.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an endless tread, the two sides of which may be tightened around the wheels of a vehicle independently.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an endless tread that combines two different metals in the pad to take advantage of the best qualities of each.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an endless tread that has pads that are readily replaceable as independent units.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side view of my endless tread secured around the resiliently tired wheels of a vehicle of which only a fragment is shown,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the inside of my tread showing the two end pads and one common or ordinary pad taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l; a portion of an end block is broken away to illustrate its construction,

Fig. 3 is anV enlarged longitudinal sectional view of one of the tightening devices on my tread and taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view of my tightening device illustrating how the cables are wound on the tightening drums and taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged outside or bottom perspec-V tive view of one of the pad tread members,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective View of one of the tread side blocks,

Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a single pad member taken on the line 'I-T of Fig. 2,

Fig. 8 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of an anchor pad taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 9 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a pad tread side block secured to a fragment of a pad and taken on the line 9 9 of Fig. 2. A fragmentary showing of an ordinary tire in cross sectional silhouette is shown with broken lines, and

Fig. l0 is an enlarged bottom view of my modified angle edged and lugged pad plate.

Referring to the drawings, I have used the numeral I I to designate an automotive vehicle having wheels I2 on which are mounted ordinary pneumatic tires I4. My endless tread is shown in Fig. 1 reeved over the tires I4. The tread is made up of a plurality of like pads of my new construction hereinafter referred to simply as common or ordinary pads and two special end pads each of which supports a portion of the tightening device. All of the pads are mounted on two flexible elements such as the cables I6 or the like. The common pads are made up of the substantially rectangular pad tread plate I8 and the four pad side blocks 20. The side blocks are secured to the plate in any suitable manner as by the rivets 22 extending through the blocks and appropriate holes 24 in the slanting side portion 26 of tread plate I8. The side blocks are in the general shape of a truncated wedge having a rectangular depression 2'8 in the upturned portion shown in Fig. 6. A hole 30 extends through the block to receive rivet 22 and a groove or channel az is formed in the lower portion. of the bloes 4 to receive cable I6. I have caused the groove 32 to intersect the margin of hole 30 as shown in Fig. 9 so that cable I6 is frictionally held in relation to the block by the rivet. The side blocks, therefore, hold the pad plates on the cables and also serve as tire tread side engaging members to hold the tread on the tire I4 as shown in Fig. 9. The pad plate I8 has a central bend 34 in it to add to its lateral rigidity and also to cause the pads to conform to the shape of the wheels I4 as they pass over the wheels. `Each edge of the plate I8 is bent to form a cleat or lug 36 that grips in soft surfaces. The bending downward of the lugs also makes the plate rigid laterally together with central bend 34. As pad plate I8 is stamped from sheet stock that has a raised pattern on it, this pattern appears on the bottom f the plate as cross welts 38., The modified form of pad plate designated I5 shown in Fig. l0 is like the pad plate I8, except that plate I5 is formed in the shape of a truncated triangle. The ends of the plate are slanted, therefore, and when bent down as the edges of plate I8, form thel biased lugs I l. The lugs I1 are identical to theV lugs 3E except that they are formed on the bias. Between each two plates and on each cable are spacer spools; and since they are all alike, they are all designated by the single numeral 40.

My early experiments with my endless tread were made with the cables bare between the pads.

My experience has been that the cables soon,

break when they are uncovered between the pads.

At rst I thought the breakage resulted from av pulling force as the treadwas subject to tensile strain when doing heavy work. Later I dis-- covered that the breakage was the resultof cornpression forces exerted on one cable in each tread as the vehicle was turned for example. By placing the spacer spools between the pads, the plates could not be forced closer together than the spacer spools wouldY permit which minimized compression forces on the cables and prevented the breakage experienced with the free cables.. These spacer spools also insure against thepads slipping along the cables and bunchingat--one place on the cables I6. While I have shown spools as the preferred form of unit, obviously, any suitable spacers could be used. Because the lugs 36 are rather shallow, and because central bend 34 carries the center of the plate near to the bottoms of lugs 36; a relatively thin piece of resilient material riveted or otherwise secured `between lugs 36 to the bottom of the plate will lift the lugs off the surface over which the tread is used. 'I'hus my endless tread pads are quickly adapted for use on hard surface roads.

The two ends of the tread terminate in specialend plates. One of these I have designated 42 and call an anchor plate. I call the winch or windless plate and designate with the numeral 44. The anchor plate has an' Ordinary or common pad side block on both ends of one side of the plate as is shown in Fig. 2;

the anchor plate receives cable gripping blocks 46 which are secured to the plate 42 in any suitable manner as by bolt 48 or the like. There is a passagewayV or opening Eil in each of thev blocks 4E as shown in Fig. 8. Cable I6 is inserted through this opening and secured therein by any suitable means such as the Allen head set screw. 52. In about the same position on plate 42 thatv the other side blocks would normally be secured The other end plate' 5. .isiamanchorrpeste `Itccnsistsionamivetoifsequiw alentrdewitl-na spacerfi: aroundafitsa'shanlefftc holdz washer Safeway; fromzzttreveplate endiasfiis :clearlyfshown inflige 8; right fliandisidez The other: endplateewhich` L calli-the:A winch orfvvindlessr piateiha'slcable end blocks 60 secured to it in place of regular sidev blocks. These cable end? blocksfhave tefpere'df boresl thereinY designated 62. Tfhesends-of'xcableuttrwthat are not secured in cable gripping blocks l are inserted through'the bores 62 in cable`end..blocks.l60i.and arethen spread"orurayed slightly. Therfrayed ends 'are'-insert'ed"into al container ll'ed with meltedt lead which" Afills? all thespaces.v between thecablewi'res'and adherestnereto. The 'leaded cable ends arecthen'drawnliintoith'e tapered bore 62 until-they wedge there-thus holding thefends ofpthecablesecurely in theblocks. Ther-blocks themselves are secured to the plate 44 by any suitable means such as the rivets 64 or the like.

Winch plate e4, also carries a pair of Winches or tightening devices one for each side of the tread. These tightening mechanisms consist of a gear Wheel 66 having beveled sides on its teeth. The gear has a drum 68 formed integrally with it and is pierced by a central bore T0. A stub shaft 'l2 extends through a suitable hole in the plate 44 and the bore 10. A shoulder 14 prevents the shaft from passing through the plate, and square head 16 provides a means for gripping the shaft to cause it to rotate. A short cable i8 is formed into a loop and the two free ends inserted through appropriate shaped bores 80 and 82 in the drum and stub shaft respectively. An Allen head set screw S4 or its equivalent places sufcient tension on the cables to hold them in the bores. As the cable 78 is tightened .on the Winch drum, the friction of the cable also tends to hold the cable on the drum. To prevent the Winch from loosening once the tread is correctly adjusted, the dogs 86 are pivotally mounted near the gear wheels by rivets 88 or equivalent. Because the Winches are arranged on the upturned end of the pad plate, it is necessary to bevel either the sides of the gear teeth or the ends of dogs 86. As the preferred form I have shown the gear teeth beveled. This bevel is at the same angle as the angle formed by the end and the base of the plate. The dog may be made square on its end when the gear teeth sides are slanted as shown and taught.

The use of my tread is practically self-evident. After arranging the tread over the Wheels, the loops of cables 'I8 are hooked over the anchor post that corresponds to a given Winch. Any suitable tool is used to turn square head 16 causing the stub shaft to rotate. The ends of the cable being gripped in the bore 82 are carried around thus drawing the loops up shorter and shorter to tighten the tread over the tires. When the tread is tight, dog 86 is forced into the appropriate gear tooth and pressure on the stub shaft square head 'i6 may be released. The gear bears on the dog and is held stationary. As cable 18 is passed through both the drum and the shaft, it acts as a pin therethrough to prevent either from turning independently of the other; holding the gear against rotation also secures the shaft. Dog 86 is not spring loaded as is common for this sort of a dog, but is rather tight on its rivet 88. A certain amount of effort is required both to engage and disengage the dog, therefore, which insures a positive holding of the Wheel. To remove the tread, pressure 6. isereleasedzfromftne dog; byftignteningftlieicable slightly'zsoc thattftlie dogfcan fbe swung: te'H the position-showninsbrolren lines -in'ffFig with thevdog out or'the Wam` cableI la' iszunwound: te release' thestread'. 'ItfWillilbeappreciated.; tlierefore, that' I i have "-invented'i tread :that is readily" assembled or" zretrieved -fio'm` the tractor or 'like -Since myfpadsfare:stampedfrom:relatively 4inexpenstveffst'eelsneet; .they are tough.; .lighti'andr rapidI-ylfabiricaitedi Y The 'end blocissilare castiand; may bemacle from A:one-hof thevr lightf soft metalsql They` do not coritafct7 theground forf like-*and ihence no problem ofi wearpresentsitself.A Also bee causeetnesideiiblocks a'refsmall; thev costi'involved is; noti V-pr-'olfiibitive'- and the 'problem' of havingy enough spaceeor the castings to cool is' minimiedi Atthesame time; vtltieetotalWeight of the pads isilield'down making thelunitA-relatively liglitl- "WhileI have shownland taught the pad side blocks as being cast and preferably of a light metal, it is possible to cast them from iron or steel or even to stamp them from material similar to that used for the pad plates. When the pad treads shown in Fig. 10 are used, the vehicle equipped with my endless tread has considerable resistance to side slippage. These p-ads are preferably formed as truncated isosceles triangles so thatany pad may be placed at any point along the tread. The slanting sides of the pads cause the lugs to be formed on the bias With respect to the tread as the sides are bent down. These slanting lugs act like skate blades turned sideward to resist sideward sliding movement of the tread and also of the machine, therefore. I have found that the angle of these lugs need be only mild and that a severe angle to these lugs causes the vehicle equipped with them to have an alternate back and forth snaking action as it moves over normal ground. In very hilly or cold country, however, the angle may necessarily be greater and the snaking or wobbling action will be a necessary evil.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my endless tread without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modied forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents Which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In an endless tread, two elongated flexible elements arranged parallel to each other, a plurality of common pad elements secured transversely to said flexible elements in spaced relationship to each other; the ends of said flexible elements extending in pairs for a distance beyond the last common pad at each end of said flexible elements, an anchor plate rigidly secured to one pair of the free cable ends, a winch plate secured to the other pair of free cable ends, at least one winch on said winch plate, and ilexible means anchored to said anchor plate and secured to said winch; whereby said anchor plate and winch plate may be drawn together.

2. In an endless tread, two elongated flexible elements arranged parallel to each other, a plurality of common pad elements secured transversely to said flexible elements in spaced relationship to each other; the ends of said flexible elements extending in pairs for a distance beyond the last common pad at each end of said flexible elements, an anchor plate rigidly secured to one pair of the free cable ends, a winch plate secured to the other pair of free cable ends,

at least one winch on said winch plate, means for preventing the rotation of said winch in one direction, means for rendering said last mentioned means ineffective' at times and flexible means anchored to said anchor plate and secured to said Winch; whereby said anchor plate and winch plate may be drawn together.

3. In a winch for tightening a exble element of an endless tread winch plate, a stub shaft adapted to being rotatably mounted in a circular journal, a shoulder on said stub shaft to limit its movement in one direction through a circular journal, a Wrench receiving head portion beyond said shoulder` and on said stub shaft; said stub shaft having a, transverse opening therein, a drum having a hole therein adapted to slidably embracing a portion of said stub shaft; said drum having an opening therein adapted to being aligned with the opening in said stub shaft; the openings in said drum and 20 8: stub shaft adapted to receive a flexible element, means for securing a exible element in said openings, and means for preventing rotation of 4said drum in one direction, means for rendering said last mentioned means ineffective at times.

CHESTER I. LEVEKE.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,195,640 Baruch Aug. 22, 1916 1,308,153 Wheat July 1, 1919 1,913,280 Kennedy June 6, 1933 2,133,653 Bomford et al Oct. 18, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 862,778 France Dec. 16, 1940 

